I’m not saying that Hideo is evil or that I wanted Lu to make him evil. Any time a book really leans into that and lets warning signs be warning signs, I’m impressed. There are few things I love more than YA literature, but even I can admit that there are an awful lot of toxic boyfriends found there. There aren’t many of them (the Darkling from Shadow and Boneis really the only other one who comes to mind), but they’re absolutely fascinating when they show up. I’m fascinated by love interests who turn out to be the villain. My other favorite thing in the first novel is Emika’s relationship with Hideo, and Hideo’s relationship with morality. She somehow managed to make him intriguing we don’t know much about him, and his few interactions with Emika are antagonistic, but for some reason I still wanted more time with him to get to know him. The way book one ends, I was sure that Tremaine was going to take on a narrative role the size of Hideo’s.

He was an interesting peripheral character in Warcross, and he was poised to step up and take on a starring role. Tremaine, also, I was excited to see more from. One of the things I was most excited for in Wildcard was the prospect of Roshan, Hammie, and Asher being more central. Even before she trusts the team to help her outside of the game, she has an obvious affection for them-and them for her-and I loved the moments when she would relax and let herself enjoy their company. She is slow to trust, but watching her friendship bloom with her Warcross team is really lovely. What I loved most about Emika, though, is that she goes it alone but she is not aggressively antisocial. She’s tough and independent, just rough enough around the edges that she prickles, but no so much that she cuts. It’s fast paced and dynamic and the protagonist Emika is incredible. Warcross is The Hunger Games meets Ready Player One. I think I actually loved it more the second time around.

It’s not a bad book, per se, but it pulled the focus away from the elements I loved most in Warcross and instead introduced a set of new characters who dominated the narrative at the expense of those I already knew and loved.

Warcross book series